Gopher Peavey 1986 - Department of Forest Resources - University ...

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Richard A. Skok There has been a good deal of excitement around the College of Forestry over the past year. Mostly it relates to encouraging developments that I believe reflect our dynamic programs and enthusiastic staff. We are in a changing environment within the University and even in terms of our traditional relationships with other private and public institutions in the broadly defined forestry community I can assure you, however, that our commitment to natural resource programs and to the pursuit of excellence remains unchanged. The 1985 Minnesota Legislature approved $5.285 million of funding for the Phase I construction of the addition to Green Hall. This consists of a two story addition flanking both the north and south sides of the auditorium and a four story pavilion located between Kaufert Lab and Green Hall. The former will house a set of research and teaching laboratories for stress physiology, water quality, forest biotechnology, and wood chemistry and will tie to several laboratories presently in Green Hall. The pavilion will accommodate primarily those functions common to the several units of the College such as the Office of Student Services, the Computer Center, the Dean's Office, a Student Commons area, and the Forestry Library. It will also be connected underground to Kaufert Lab and via a two story atrium to Green Hall. The present schedule calls for construction to begin late spring of 1986 and for completion in the summer of 1987. In the meantime we expect to be a part of the University's 1987 Capital Improvement Request for the Phase II $5 million of remodeling funds for Green Hall. This was part of the original project before it was phased in two parts through a 1984 University decision. The Phase II Green Hall Remodeling is essential because this has been an interrelated project for space effectiveness from the beginning and remains so today. Enrollment in undergraduate programs of the Col 1985-86 College of Forestry Dean's Report Fall Quarter 1984 1985 1985 CURRICULUM Male Female Forest Management 151 91 23 68 Forest Products 65 57 I 56 Recreation Resource Management 19 21 10 II Renewable Resource SCience 9 6 4 2 Urban Forestry 9 12 3 9 Fisheries and Wildlife 100 106 30 76 Adult Specials 10 15 6 9 lege showed further decline this past fall quarter. GRADUATE PROGRAM ENROLLMENT Nearly all of the decrease was accounted for in the Forest Resources 67 72 Forest Products forest resource management curriculum. Graduate 16 16 FisherIes 13 12 enrollment was slightly higher A summary is shown Wildlife 23 28 below Tota ls 119 128 4
Two major developments unfolding as this is written (February) will bring some change to the University and to the College of Forestry as well. The first deals with "Commitment to Focus", a plan for narrowing and further directing the focus of the University of Minnesota in recognizing it as the only graduate education research institution of higher education in the state. This proposal would seek concentration of effort on unique and priority program areas and strive for excellence in these. The plan in its present form is a broad statement of philosophy and has been generally well received in the state. Conversion to specifics will bring issues to the fore to be debated and resolved by both internal and external University constituencies. Some issues potentially impacting the College of Forestry are: • Unified and increased preparation standards for students in the freshman admitting colleges • Improving lower-division education at the University • Designation of UM-Duluth as the land grant university for northeastern Minnesota. The second element is the state and federal budget deficits. While it is too early to determine the actual reduction in funding we face for teaching-research-extension programs it appears to be on the order of magnitude of $150,000-$200,000 over the 1985-87 biennium. Research will be hardest hit and we are currently reviewing which programs will be reduced, eliminated, or put on hold. Because of the interrelated nature of the various functions in our program, cuts in research of this magnitude are significant setbacks to education as well as research. A request has gone forward to change the name of the College to that of the College of Natural Resources. The faculty has been on record favoring a change in name for nearly two years It now seems appropriate to bring this name change forward for consideration. We see such a change supportive of a strengthening of the College's programs and enhancing the University-wide focus and commitment to academic programs involving natural resources. The College today has important teaching and research program commitments not readily recognized by many others under the title of College of Forestry. Examples of such are our present efforts in water, fisheries, wildlife, recreation, remote sensing, etc. Additionally, we are the only College in the University of Minnesota with a solitary commitment to academic programs dealing with the management, utilization, protection and conservation of a broad range of natural resources. We provide a strong core of experience and resources area and can prOVIde the opportunity for others to build on our traditions and recognition for excellence. The departmental units of this college are serving an increasingly important role in program identity for specific clientele. The College of Forestry title is redundant, in a sense, for some of our programs and not inclusive of others. A change in name to the College of Natural Resources would clearly embrace all of our existing programs, encourage program evolu 5 tion and consolidation as appropriate, and enhance the dependency on departmental program visibility with specific resource groups and clientele. A name change of this significance will be reviewed by the central administration of the University and, if agreed to there, must then receive approval by the Board of Regents One, of course, also must recognize that once having proposed a change that other Join as well in the shaping of any name change that may eventually emerge. The College has received a grant from the Office of Higher Education to initiate an Assessment of Forestry Education: Future Issues and Needs. Declining forestry enrollments nationwide have raised concerns that need to be addressed along with the broader issues of what the structural changes in the forestry community at large mean to forestry education. Hopefully, this study will provide the impetus for a series of ongoing inquiries that will provide us a better basis to individually and collectively plan for the future. We have been fortunate in obtaining the part-time services of Don Duncan for 1986 to take major responsibilities for this study. Don taught at Minnesota from 1947 to 1965. He retired in 1985 after serving 20 years as director, School of Forestry, Fisheries, Wildlife at the University of Missouri. His experience and past national leadership in various organizations dealing with forestry education give him excellent qualifications for this undertaking. Let me conclude by extending to you the annual invitation to viSit when the opportunity permits We also welcome your thoughts on our activities and programs if you wish to share these.
Page 2 and 3: DEDICATION Dr. Lawrence C. Merriam,
Page 4 and 5: Table of Contents Dedication ......
Page 8 and 9: Department of Forest Resources 1985
Page 12 and 13: Thomas Burk Assistant Professor Tea
Page 14 and 15: Timothy Knopp Association Professor
Page 16 and 17: Philip Splett Instructor Career Opp
Page 18 and 19: Equipment for use in teaching and r
Page 20 and 21: Henry Hall Sr. Scientist Research a
Page 23 and 24: Department of Fisheries and Wildlif
Page 25 and 26: Francine Cuthbert Assistant Profess
Page 27 and 28: Office of Student Services Bill Gan
Page 29: SPECIAL SECTION: FIELD SESSIONS For
Page 32: Itasca Session '85 by Lois Pfeffer
Page 35 and 36: Cloquet Forestry Session by A. R. H
Page 37 and 38: The Cloquet Experience, 1985 by Sha
Page 41: SPECIAL SECTION: SUMMER JOBS Summer
Page 44 and 45: Forest Service Volunteer by Dan Gro
Page 48 and 49: Student Activities 47
Page 50 and 51: y Bryan Pike President Bryan Pike V
Page 52 and 53: • 1985 Conclave by Tim Kennedy (t
Page 54: 53 using a spliced together cham, y
Page 57 and 58:
1985 Tree Sales by Marc Roberts It
Page 59 and 60:
Forester's Day 1986 by Mark Reed Th
Page 61 and 62:
Saturday morning came (a bit earlie
Page 64 and 65:
The bean feed was held at the North
Page 66 and 67:
Forest Products Scholarship Banquet
Page 68 and 69:
.. • • .. SOME OFOUR GRADUATES
Page 70 and 71:
.. • • .. Steven Hoppe Matthew
Page 72 and 73:
Timothy Edgeton Gerald Fiedler Anne
Page 74 and 75:
Diane Thomforde Patricia Topley Jam
Page 79 and 80:
The Gopher Peavey: A Note from the
Page 81:
A Look Back. • •
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